Management of severe male factor infertility in IVF.

Scriptie/Masterproef: Doctoral Thesis

Samenvatting

Since the first report of a successful delivery from in vitro fertilization in 1978, the advances in the field of assisted reproductive techniques grew over time, especially dealing with male factor infertility.
Male factor infertility due to oligo-, astheno-, teratozoospermia, a combination of the three conditions (OAT), or even a complete absence of spermatozoa in the ejaculate (azoospermia), is partially or fully responsible for approximately 20-70% of cases of infertility. In the past, men with a condition of azoospermia or cryptozoospermia were considered sterile, and sperm donation was their only reproductive option. In 1992, the development of ICSI drastically modified this scenario and decreased the impact of male factor in couples undergoing IVF. More recently, the advances introduced in IVF (i.e. blastocyst culture, vitrification, preimplantation genetic testing) and the implementation of surgical sperm retrieval procedures allowed us to treat also men with a condition of severe-OAT, cryptozoospermia or azoospermia. Yet, couples showing male factor infertility require careful clinical and lifestyle behavior evaluation, and medical treatment whenever feasible before ICSI. Finally, some authors suggested that severe male factor may contribute to a higher prevalence of aneuploid embryos in IVF. However, recent evidence questioned those data by supporting that the euploidy rate and implantation potential of the blastocysts obtained are independent from male factor. The possible effect of the severe male factor on early embryo development could be very likely related only to fertilization and developmental potential to the blastocyst stage.
Datum prijs31 mei 2018
Originele taalEnglish
Prijsuitreikende instantie
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel
BegeleiderHerman Tournaye (Promotor), Claudia Spits (Jury), Jan Gutermuth (Jury), Christophe Blockeel (Jury), Christopher Barratt (Jury), Dirk Vanderschueren (Jury) & Willem Ombelet (Jury)

Keywords

  • IVF
  • Infertility
  • Male

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